History

2009-10: Gaudreau skated for Team Comcast (Pennsauken, NJ) in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League (Midget AAA)). In 46 games he had 29 goals with 27 assists. Gaudreau led all scorers at the 2010 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp with 5 goals and 7 assists and competed for Team USA at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Tournament and had 2 goals with 2 assists in five games for the silver medal-winning US squad.

2010-11: Appeared in 60 games with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and posted an impressive 36 goals and 36 assists. He then posted 11 points (5 goals and 6 assists) in 11 playoff games for the Fighting Saints. His season was good enough to see him named the USHL’s Rookie of the Year.

2011-12: Gaudreau burst onto the college hockey scene as a freshman – finishing second in scoring for national champion Boston College. Gaudreau’s 44 points were one behind junior Chris Kreider (New York Rangers) for the team lead on an Eagles team that won its final 19 games; capturing the Hockey East regular season and playoff titles and defeating Ferris State, 4-1 in the Frozen Four Final. Gaudreau scored 21 goals with 23 assists and was plus-20 with 10 penalty minutes in 44 games. Gaudreau was invited to the USA evaluation camp for the 2013 U20 World Junior Championship.

2012-13: Gaudreau was one of the top forwards in college hockey as a sophomore and skated on the top line for the gold medal-winning USA squad at the 2013 World Junior Championship. In 35 games with Boston College he scored 21 goals with 30 assists and was +19 with 29 penalty minutes and was one of the three finalists for the prestigious Hobey Baker Award. The Eagles finished second to Massachusetts-Lowell in Hockey East and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after a loss to Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals. BC lost to Union, 5-1, in the NCAA East Regional semifinals. Skating on a line with J.T. Miller (NY Rangers) and Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey (Nashville) at the WJC, Gaudreau scored 7 goals with 2 assists and was +2 with 4 penalty minutes in seven games. The USA defeated Sweden, 3-1, in the gold medal game.

2013-14: Gaudreau signed a three-year entry-level contract in April 2014 and made his NHL debut with the Flames on April 13th — scoring a goal in his only game with Calgary after joining the Flames following his junior season at Boston College. Gaudreau won the Hobey Baker award as the top player in college hockey and joined Calgary after competing in the Frozen Four with the Eagles. In his final season of college hockey he scored 36 goals with 44 assists and was +42 with 14 penalty minutes. BC won the Hockey East regular season title and was among the top-ranked teams in the country most of the year. The Eagles were upset by Notre Dame in a three-game Hockey East quarterfinal series but rebounded to capture the NCAA Northeast Regional — defeating Denver and Massachusetts-Lowell — before falling 5-4 to eventual national champion Union in a Frozen Four semifinal game.

Talent Analysis

Gaudreau has quick hands, shifty moves; explosive speed and could stickhandle in a phone booth. He has the determination and big time skill to prove the doubters wrong about his size, similar to Martin St. Louis. He can make bigger players miss their checks while sliding off them with his elite edge control and quick skating. Despite his small stature he has the strength to withstand the physical play at the NHL Level. Gaudreau has scored goals at every level of hockey and continues to do so while making the players around him more productive.

Future

Gaudreau made the Flames out of training camp and is among the leaders for the NHL's Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2014-15. The strength of his game is his skating and mobility as weil as top rate stick handling and passing skills. He has played a big role in the resurgence of the Calgary franchise and barring injury or trade should be a key part of the Flames' lineup for the foreseeable future.

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